Sunday Ticket Court Trial Starts June 5th

[AZRams]

I'm no lawyer and I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in years...

Last time I spoke with a lawyer who worked in business law and knew anything about anti-trust law, his take was that the government didn't mind if you're a monopoly. They'd only reach out to smack you if you acted like one.

 

[dieterbrock]

Not true. NASCAR did it for years. It was done through pre-race engine inspections. They got caught and the sport waned for several years but it eventually recovered.

Not sure what Nascar has to do with this? IIRC, Nascar punished racing teams for alleged cheating. Alas, you cant sue for damages based on the outcome of a sporting event, that is what the "sports entertainment" angle is about.
With legal betting, the idea of "fixing" games makes less sense than ever

 

[Mackeyser]

I could be mistaken, but MLB is on a different tier with respect to anti-trust

They’re the only league with a fully independent Commissioner and several precedents, but who knows, maybe they’re there, but the courts no longer see the differences between the sports leagues

I’m in the middle of a move and so tired, I’m not even sure what I’m typing…

 

[FrantikRam]

If only that was true and sunday ticket actually gave you every week for every team for the entire year.

Isn't it true though..?

Or I guess put another way, to get the ticket you have to have YouTubeTV and then you also have ESPN/NBC/NFLN which are 99% of the games

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Not sure what Nascar has to do with this? IIRC, Nascar punished racing teams for alleged cheating. Alas, you cant sue for damages based on the outcome of a sporting event, that is what the "sports entertainment" angle is about.
With legal betting, the idea of "fixing" games makes less sense than ever

What does NASCAR have to do with it? They are a major sporting league like MlB, NFL, NBA, and NHL.
You claimed that it’s impossible to fix games. There was a ref in the NBA doing it. NASCAR did it and it wasn’t the drivers. It came from the top. If there is motivation to steer outcomes and it’s lucrative any league could find a way. The burning of the tapes and the recurrence of Belichick trying to record signals again a few years later was a perfect opportunity for the league to prove to the world that they wouldn’t stand for cheating. A years suspension for Belichick the second time around could have proven that they took it seriously. But the Patriots got another slap on the wrist. MLB came down much harder on the Astros than Goodell did on the Patriots.

 

[dieterbrock]

What does NASCAR have to do with it? They are a major sporting league like MlB, NFL, NBA, and NHL.
You claimed that it’s impossible to fix games. There was a ref in the NBA doing it. NASCAR did it and it wasn’t the drivers. It came from the top. If there is motivation to steer outcomes and it’s lucrative any league could find a way. The burning of the tapes and the recurrence of Belichick trying to record signals again a few years later was a perfect opportunity for the league to prove to the world that they wouldn’t stand for cheating. A years suspension for Belichick the second time around could have proven that they took it seriously. But the Patriots got another slap on the wrist. MLB came down much harder on the Astros than Goodell did on the Patriots.

The NBA didnt fix games, there was a rogue ref who did. People lie, cheat and steal in all walks of life. But a league? Not a chance
Nascar? Please. I havent found where Nascar arranged outcomes, but wouldnt care if they did. It embarrassing to try and equate the two.
The League had nothing to do with the Pats transgressions, what they did do, and continue to do with disasterous results is allow teams to try and cover up shit. And they get caught most of the time. Whether its abuse, drugs or the like, shit gets brushed under the rug.
There is no script, there is no agenda. Its pretty simple, look at Jerry Jones. Anyone who thinks this guy would sign up for 30 years of playoff misery is just not paying attention.
What I would truly like to understand is why do some folks need for there to be some huge scam behind it? The obsession with wanting some secret society deciding the outcome? Bizarre

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The NBA didnt fix games, there was a rogue ref who did. People lie, cheat and steal in all walks of life. But a league? Not a chance
Nascar? Please. I havent found where Nascar arranged outcomes, but wouldnt care if they did. It embarrassing to try and equate the two.
The League had nothing to do with the Pats transgressions, what they did do, and continue to do with disasterous results is allow teams to try and cover up shit. And they get caught most of the time. Whether its abuse, drugs or the like, shit gets brushed under the rug.
There is no script, there is no agenda. Its pretty simple, look at Jerry Jones. Anyone who thinks this guy would sign up for 30 years of playoff misery is just not paying attention.
What I would truly like to understand is why do some folks need for there to be some huge scam behind it? The obsession with wanting some secret society deciding the outcome? Bizarre

Embarrassing? Give me a break with the dramatics.

All I did was answer you. You said it couldn’t happen, yet it already did. Do I want it to be do? No. Is it impossible? No. But some people refuse to think it’s possible. We had a rigged attempt at a Presidency. We’ve seen Presidents assassinated. We’ve seen major companies defraud the public, we’ve seen drug companies purposefully pushing dangerous drugs. There is underhanded dealings done in the name of money in this country but a sports entertainment league is not capable of doing something illegitimate? That seems naive to rule out the possibility.

 

[dieterbrock]

Embarrassing? Give me a break with the dramatics.

All I did was answer you. You said it couldn’t happen, yet it already did. Do I want it to be do? No. Is it impossible? No. But some people refuse to think it’s possible. We had a rigged attempt at a Presidency. We’ve seen Presidents assassinated. We’ve seen major companies defraud the public, we’ve seen drug companies purposefully pushing dangerous drugs. There is underhanded dealings done in the name of money in this country but a sports entertainment league is not capable of doing something illegitimate? That seems naive to rule out the possibility.

It didnt happen. That's the issue. There isnt a shroud of evidence pointing to it other than fan outrage when the outcome of a game doesnt go their way.
Jerry Richardson, Jon Gruden and Dan Snyder is as much "proof" as one could imagine. If any of them had the slightest sliver of impropriety, they'd have ratted out the league for it.
I dont dismiss conspiracy theory when it has foundation. I dont believe Oswald was the sole perp of JFK, I question the validity of the moon landing, I certainly question the outcome of a political event that happened for which cant be discussed... All of which have tangible and factual inconsistencies
The NFL fixing games? About as possible as Santa Claus being real

 

[Mackeyser]

The NBA didnt fix games, there was a rogue ref who did. People lie, cheat and steal in all walks of life. But a league? Not a chance
Nascar? Please. I havent found where Nascar arranged outcomes, but wouldnt care if they did. It embarrassing to try and equate the two.
The League had nothing to do with the Pats transgressions, what they did do, and continue to do with disasterous results is allow teams to try and cover up shit. And they get caught most of the time. Whether its abuse, drugs or the like, shit gets brushed under the rug.
There is no script, there is no agenda. Its pretty simple, look at Jerry Jones. Anyone who thinks this guy would sign up for 30 years of playoff misery is just not paying attention.
What I would truly like to understand is why do some folks need for there to be some huge scam behind it? The obsession with wanting some secret society deciding the outcome? Bizarre

Sorry, I disagree and have spelled out at length how it can happen with very few people involved, but if anyone wants they can look back.

People being caught isn’t an indication they get caught most of the time. If that were the case, there would be very few people doing drugs.

I suppose some people need for there to be a conspiracy, but many like me just see patterns that aren’t random

 

[dieterbrock]

Sorry, I disagree and have spelled out at length how it can happen with very few people involved, but if anyone wants they can look back.

People being caught isn’t an indication they get caught most of the time. If that were the case, there would be very few people doing drugs.

I suppose some people need for there to be a conspiracy, but many like me just see patterns that aren’t random

Yeah there are tons of Reddit posts with explanations.
Literally zero factual correlation

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

It didnt happen. That's the issue. There isnt a shroud of evidence pointing to it other than fan outrage when the outcome of a game doesnt go their way.
Jerry Richardson, Jon Gruden and Dan Snyder is as much "proof" as one could imagine. If any of them had the slightest sliver of impropriety, they'd have ratted out the league for it.
I dont dismiss conspiracy theory when it has foundation. I dont believe Oswald was the sole perp of JFK, I question the validity of the moon landing, I certainly question the outcome of a political event that happened for which cant be discussed... All of which have tangible and factual inconsistencies
The NFL fixing games? About as possible as Santa Claus being real

It happened in NASCAR when the sport was at its peak. And yes there was evidence. It all came down to the guys inspecting the engines. Kind of like referees. It can happen anywhere.

Consider that some of the things I mentioned were not known about for several years before they came to light. So does that mean, until that time that they were discovered, did they not happen?

 

[dieterbrock]

It happened in NASCAR when the sport was at its peak. And yes there was evidence. It all came down to the guys inspecting the engines. Kind of like referees. It can happen anywhere.

Consider that some of the things I mentioned were not known about for several years before they came to light. So does that mean, until that time that they were discovered, did they not happen?

All I can find on NASCAR was that some teams were caught cheating, I dont see any information that NASCAR itself was the direct perpetrator?
Still and all, its apples and oranges. The teams in NASCAR dont comprise the ownership like the NFL, MLB etc. Nascar has one single owner. Again, I dont see anywhere that depicts cheating by Nascar itself but a single entity would not be the same as 32 owners being complicit

 

[snackdaddy]

Sure would be nice to be able to purchase single game tickets. When its not being showed on the local channels I could buy a game a few times a year. I'd even take being able to purchase one teams games for the whole season if its cheaper than the Ticket that gives you every game.

 

[Billy Baroo]

I question the validity of the moon landing,

Wait, stop the presses - we didn’t land on the moon?

 

[Mackeyser]

Wait, stop the presses - we didn’t land on the moon?

 

[dieterbrock]

Wait, stop the presses - we didn’t land on the moon?

We absolutely did, but at least the conspiracy theorists who suggest the opposite make some valid arguments and at least can make one think about it.
The NFL scripting or fixing games? Not a single thread of reality that would

 

[Q729]

Jury orders NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in 'Sunday Ticket' case for violating antitrust laws

A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.

apnews.com

Updated 5:23 PM EDT, June 27, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.

The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit and then possibly the Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.

“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”

The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.

“This case transcends football. This case matters,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said during Wednesday’s closing arguments. “It’s about justice. It’s about telling the 32 team owners who collectively own all the big TV rights, the most popular content in the history of TV — that’s what they have. It’s about telling them that even you cannot ignore the antitrust laws. Even you cannot collude to overcharge consumers. Even you can’t hide the truth and think you’re going to get away with it.”

The league maintained it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs say that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.

DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.
___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

 

[Karate61]

Wow...looking forward to my 10-Year Settlement Payment! Will use it to travel to a game at Sofi. Thank you Lawyers!

 

[Tano]

Wow...looking forward to my 10-Year Settlement Payment! Will use it to travel to a game at Sofi. Thank you Lawyers!

That $10 will go far.

 

[Karate61]

That $10 will go far.

It's only going to be $1 per year? That's it?